Gillibrand wants Cosby's presidential medal returned

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t just speaking out for victims of military and college sexual assaults. Now she’s going after Bill Cosby, too.

A spokesman for the New York Democrat, who has been outspoken in challenging the Pentagon and universities to toughen their policies on sex crimes, said the senator supports an advocacy group’s petition, calling on President Barack Obama to take away the comedian’s Presidential Medal of Freedom in light of Cosby’s confession in 2005 to using Quaaludes to have sex with women.

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“Kirsten has always advocated for listening to survivors’ voices. This 10-year-old admission is appalling, but sadly not surprising considering that dozens of women have been speaking out,” Gillibrand spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement to POLITICO. “She supports this group’s effort because we need to set a clear example that sexual assault will not be tolerated in this country, and someone who admitted to using drugs for sex no longer deserves the nation’s highest honor.”

Gillibrand joins her Senate Democratic colleague Claire McCaskill of Missouri in backing the petition from the nonprofit group Promoting Awareness/Victim Empowerment, which outlines several ways for Obama to get the nation’s highest civilian honor medal back from Cosby. The group says Obama could issue an executive order rescinding the honor, make a personal statement on the issue or formally ask Cosby to return the medal. As of Friday afternoon, the petition had more than 5,000 signatures, well short of the 100,000 goal that prompts an official White House response.

Asked about the petition on Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he had no “specific reaction to it other than to remind you … of the priority that this administration has placed on trying to counter sexual assault wherever it occurs, including in our military and on college campuses.” On Wednesday, Earnest told reporters he didn’t know “whether or not it’s legally possible” for the White House to revoke the medal but said he’d pose the question to the president’s legal team.

President George W. Bush personally gave Cosby the medal in 2002 during a White House ceremony.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the number of signers on the petition to the White House.